Eschatology Part 3 Revelation 3

We're going to be in Revelation chapter 3 focusing on verses 14 through 22.

And I want to encourage you, if you don't have one of those little pieces of paper, please raise your hand.

The great honorable Brother Al will come to you because you're going to need it. There are a lot of references that I am making.

There's one over there. Of course, everybody chooses now to start messing with their hair. Anybody else need one?

Alright, thanks Artie. God, big Sasquatch. So, I learned something today.

We're going to be talking about the church of Laodicea. And this is the last church, at least in a liturgical sense, it's the last church in chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation that Jesus Christ addresses.

And He's talking specifically through John to the pastor of that church, but He's taking the whole church to task.

Now, what's interesting about this church of Laodicea is obviously the apostle

Paul had written a letter to the church of Laodicea, like he did to the church of Ephesus in Galatia.

And we know that through Colossians chapter 4 verse 16. It says, and when this letter is read among you, meaning the letter he wrote to the

Colossians, have it also read in the church of the Laodiceans and see that you also read the letter from Laodicea.

So, that once again gives credence to the circulatory mentality of all the

Pauline epistles. When he would write a church, like to Philippi, the Philippians, they would read it, copy it, and then send it around the area, and then those churches would copy it down and send it.

That's how we have 35 ,000 copies of the New Testament.

If you watch the History Channel, which I do, but sometimes with great irritation because they always have these atheistic, humanistic programs on, always questioning the sovereignty and the infallibility of the

Word of God. And someone will always say, how do we know it was really written? Well, because we have copies all the way back to the first century.

We have no original autographs, but we have 25 in Greek alone, another 10 in Latin and other languages, and what this guy wrote in 222

AD is what this guy was writing in another language in 193 AD.

It was the exact same thing, and they never met. So, logically, if you have a brain and haven't done a lot of peyote, obviously you can understand that they both had a source outside of themselves, and it proves the reality of the

Word of God. In fact, I would say even better than if we had the original autographs.

But let me tell you a little bit about this church of Laodicea. If you look at the front of your paper there, again, you'll see this awesomely pirated map off of Google.

And you can see there Laodicea, and then just a few, about six miles north, you'll see

Heropolis, and then a little bit to the north and west, you'll see

Laodicea from Colossae. I hope it's Colossae on there, I don't have one of y 'all's paper.

Yeah, so they were very, it was like Memphis to Bartlett if you lived right down the road here.

It was very close. Well, what's interesting about Laodicea, it was formed around 260

BC, that's 260 years before Christ was born. It was a small hamlet, but it was a very advantageous place economically and financially because it was on the route leading to Ephesus, which was the main port of departure from the

Spice Road and the Silk Road from the east to Ephesus and then to Rome and then back again.

And so this city had a lot of traffic, it had a lot of great things, but another thing it was really known for, it had, it was known for its ophthalmology.

It actually had a Phyrgian powder that when mixed with water, it was used as a salve on the eyes.

But here's the one thing it had going against them. Because of its plateau location, it had no source of a fresh water in and of itself.

And so what it had to do, and what they did and the Romans did to perfection, is they used an aqueduct system.

And there's a picture of that. As it appears today, those little arch things on top of those was literally a stone square channel and they would bring water from Heropolis.

It was a hot water spring up there and they would bring it those six miles, they would just use gravity and they would drop for every mile, they would drop

X number of inches and gravity would take that water from Heropolis all the way down to Laodicea.

Now, if you read this and you read it correctly, instead of what people and pastors do today, if you read it correctly, just hear the facts.

Jesus is about to call this church lukewarm. He didn't just pull that analogy out of his hat.

He's going to call them blind in a minute. He's going to call them naked and poor, even though they were rich.

And those three attributes, those negative attributes that he lists about Laodicea are in direct relation to the lukewarm water by the time it left

Heropolis and gone through that stone aqueduct, those six miles. It wasn't cold, but it wasn't hot.

It was lukewarm. Also, through the salve that they were famous for, he calls them blind and their wealth financially, he calls them poor.

So, why is that so important to mention? Well, it does a couple of things. Once again, not only does it validate the authenticity of God's Word in the archeological or cultural understanding in relation to Laodicea, it also points out the individual words that God had for each of these literal seven churches.

Now, today, as you read those words, there were many churches all over the world by this time.

In North Africa, in the next hundred years after this was written, North Africa would become the

Bible belt of the Mediterranean. Most of the great theologians and pastors of antiquity came out of North Africa.

So there were churches everywhere that were beginning and growing. But God chose,

Jesus chose these seven churches, and the reason He chose them is to be an example to all of us 2 ,000 years later.

Even though it was written to an individual church, what He speaks to them about is valid even so to this day.

So let's read together, and I pray today as you hear God's Word, you don't hear a sermon from a fat, bald preacher.

I hope you hear the Word of God and the Word of God that can change your life forever today.

And some of you young people in this room, let me tell you this. The Word of God can change your life today, but it can change your unborn children and grandchildren as well.

Hear the Word of God. Verse 14 of chapter 3 of the book of Revelation.

And to the angel of the church of Laodicea write, the words of the amen, the faithful and the true witness, the beginning of God's creation.

I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. Would then you were either cold or hot, so because you are lukewarm and neither hot or cold,

I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich.

I have prospered. I have need nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich and white garments that you may clothe yourselves and the shame of your nakedness may be seen.

And salve to anoint your eyes so that you can see. Those whom

I love, I reprove and discipline. So be jealous and repent.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door,

I will come into him and eat with him and he with me. The one who conquers,

I will grant him to sit with me on my throne as I also conquered and sat with my

Father on His throne. He who has an ear, listen Christians, at Witten Baptist Church in 2022.

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

Amen. Listen. Failure is fixable. Now you may be in this room today and most of us in this room today, most of you in this room today, our average age is 27 years old.

That's how young our church is. 27 years old. But even at 27 years, you have already had plenty of time to be stupid.

You have been. I was actually stupiderist earlier on in life.

I was saved at a late age in life but I had already accomplished my quota of stupid by about the age of 13.

I excelled in stupid. I have a PhD in total depravity.

But I'm here to tell you, that does not mark nor does it define your identity in Jesus Christ.

Maybe you didn't read God's Word yesterday. You didn't have your devotional. Maybe you fell asleep last night praying.

By the way, I fall asleep every night praying. Maybe guilt from your sin is talking louder than the conviction of the

Holy Spirit. I'm here to tell you, according to not my beliefs, not my sermon, but according to the

Word of God, your failure is not final, and it is fixable. But the first thing you have to do to fix anything is diagnose it.

I used to be a hydraulics mechanic. I was a bivocational pastor and I worked on hydraulics.

And it's amazing, these people would come in and say, but here's what you need to check because I know what it is.

And I'd sit there and say, well, then why do you need me, right? I mean, why? And this farmer one time called me.

I was on call one Saturday. He said, hey, I'm having a problem with a Denison Gold Cup.

And that's a huge, massive hydraulic motor. And I was like, all right, well, bring it in.

He said, yeah, I just want to let it come by and have you take a look at it. He pulls up in a flatbed truck, and there are like 30 boxes in the back of this flatbed truck.

Paul knows where I'm going with this. And he had taken that whole motor apart all the way down to the detents, and he didn't know how to put it back together, and he never figured out what was wrong.

Guys, you know what you pay a mechanic for? Scott will be able to tell you this. You pay a mechanic for his knowledge and wisdom in being able to diagnose the problem without tearing the whole thing up.

You have paying him, you people say, well, they're not worth 45 bucks. Can you fix it?

No, then they're worth 45 bucks, okay? You have to first diagnose the problem before you can fix it.

Christian, Jesus does the same thing here. But if you're one of those people that constantly live in the fear of your guilt, all you're gonna hear is

Jesus' condemnation, and you're never gonna read the rest of the passage. Here's what

Jesus first says in the failing or falling of God's people. It says this, the words of the amen, verse 14, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation,

I know your works. You are neither cold nor hot. And basically, let me put this colloquially,

I would rather you be cold than lukewarm. That's what he's basically saying. So because you are lukewarm and neither hot or cold,

I will spit you out of your mouth. Christian, can I tell you something today? If you have ever failed

God in your Christian life, God's gonna spit you out of His mouth. He does not love you.

You are going to hell, and there is no hope for you. Okay, I need to hear male voices.

Men, if you can't defend your family by the truth of God's Word, not to recognize a lie when it's a lie, you're not worthy to be the leader of your home.

Because that whole world out there is doing nothing as predators trying to destroy your family. That's not what he's saying.

That's not what he's saying. Let's take it step by step. First of all, I want you to notice, by what area of expertise or authority is this judgment being made?

You see, when I debate someone, I love apologetically debating people, especially doctors or people that have a bunch of initials after their name, because I always put

Jeff Shipley, GED, after mine. Because I want to illustrate this, that it is not the wisdom of Jeff you're arguing with, you're arguing against a sovereign

God who spoke into existence the entire universe, and you're trying to figure it out on the back end, and you don't even know it.

So shut up! Y 'all are sitting there trying to figure out if people are boys or girls, depending on how they feel that day.

You're an idiot! Here's what Jesus says. He says, The Amen is speaking.

Now we'll get to that more in a second, but he says this, I know your works.

Guys, have you ever had secret sins in your life? Hi, my name is

Jeff. Yeah, I have. But you know they're really not secret.

They're really not secret. I have learned this. I have paid dearly for my sin.

I have, but I have never paid as dearly as Jesus Christ did. Guys, some of us in this room think we can get away with it.

You don't. Trust me, I know. You do not get away with it.

I know your works, saith the Lord. And I know you're good and you're bad, but in context here, in true harmoneutics, he is addressing the negativity of who and what they are.

I know your works and you are neither hot or cold. The text I read you this morning lacked a passion.

Now, my staff will tell you, I hate low energy leadership. I can't stand it.

It just like gnaws into the back of my head. I can't stand it, young men.

When I see a woman with a car seat and 32 bags trying to walk out these doors and y 'all are sitting there playing hacky sack or basketball and you're totally,

I want to walk up there and slap the taste out of your mouth. You know what it is? It's not that you're lazy.

It's not that you don't care. You don't have a passion that's connected from the Holy Spirit of God.

You don't have an imminent need to be on the move. I tell your pastors this.

I tell the pastors that we have here. Dude, if something is wrong, it is your fault.

It is your responsibility to fix it. Apathy has no place.

And if you struggle with apathy in your life as a Christian, no Christian can walk back that open and empty grave of Jesus Christ.

No Christian can look at the depth of their sin and yet see the grace of God and not be moved in service.

I am indebted to Christ. This church had lost its passion. And passion is not meted out by the excitement during praise and worship.

It's not meted out by fancy sermons. It's meted out by the intentional urgency we have as individuals and a corporate body to reach the lost and dying in this world.

Do you have that urgency? Is go ye therefore a strong suggestion or is it a command from the

King of Kings? Who have you ministered to this week? You say, well, pastor,

I don't know how. Yes, you do. You are intimately familiar with sin.

You are intimately familiar with that which forgives sin, i .e., the grace of God. You can do that.

Don't believe the lies that you need to know Greek or Hebrew or there's some sort of Romans road you got to memorize.

That's all horse hockey. It is. It's monkey muffins. Colonel Sherman Potter.

Guys, get to a place in your life where passion is primary. They will know that we are

Christians by our love. Not that we hate fags or not that we hate this or we're against Walt Disney or oh my

God, they took the Ten Commandments out of the courthouse. You really think that a block of wood is going to dictate

God's sovereignty and what his word's going to do? I don't need no block of wood. I got the almighty spirit of the living

God. He's going to do exactly what he wants to do when he wants to do it. It's called immutability.

God don't need no block of wood. God forbid that someone doesn't have a nativity scene at a city hall.

Oh my gosh. Totally historically and biblically incorrect. But we got to have it.

Have a little passion on things that matter. Things that actually hold relevance to the command that God gave us.

Listen to me. It says this. It's not just the passion of what is.

It's the connection to the authority that gives you the passion. Listen to verse 14.

It says this. The words of the amen. The faithful and true witness to the beginning of God's creation.

First of all, do you know what amen means? It means agreed. It means so be it.

In other words, if I say, Go Vols! You say, That's what's wrong with you

Christians up in here. All I got to say is,

Here kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty, kitty. Little baby Kentucky, it tried. Next week, you know it's going to be like,

Get up out of here, dog. Julie, hi. God, please win. I can't handle this.

I can't. The amen. Jesus, if you read that verse carefully, he uses amen as a predicate.

He uses it as a title, but an embodiment of that title. It's what?

Shut up. Jesus is the amen.

What's that mean? It means this. We can say amen so be it. Jesus is the amen.

He did it. When he was on that cross, and he said, It is finished. It's because the job was done, and he got the t -shirt to prove it.

You understand? He has all authority to judge the living and the dead.

He has all authority to come against this church and say, You ain't doing what you need to be doing.

Also, it says this, and some people get confused on this. It says in verse 14, the beginning of God's creation.

And some people, especially our Jehovah's Witness, well, they're not really friends, but Jehovah's Witness folks out there, they believe that Jesus is a created being.

Nowhere in Scripture does it say that. In fact, it says the exact opposite. In John 1 .1, it uses actually the word beginning.

It says, En arche enologos. In the beginning was the word.

Now, why is that so important? Well, because it goes on to say, in verse 2 and 3,

By this word, all things were created. Now, let me explain to you what all things means in English, from the

Greek. It means all things. It means everything. If he was created, then that was not all things.

Logically, once again, just think outside of your computer screen and the idiot on the History Channel.

All things means everything. If he is the initiator of all creation, he then by default cannot be created.

It says that he is the firstborn among many brethren. It doesn't mean that he was born first.

It means that he is the first glorified body, Jesus Christ. When you see Jesus Christ resurrected, that's how we're gonna be.

Now, why is that exciting? I'll tell you why. Because Jesus had breakfast on a lakeshore.

That means, fat guy happy, we're gonna eat in heaven. Okay, you with me?

There gonna be steaks, and some of y 'all gonna stress this, there gonna be pork chops up there.

By the way, Patty, Rebecca, and Verbal, I'd like to ask you now, will you marry me?

Because them pork chops Wednesday were fresh, fire, savage, dripping hot, smoking cool.

Stop, all right, I'll stop. Were those not good pork chops Wednesday? God, they were good.

The same word archaic is used here. Listen, Jesus says this, that he is the beginning of creation.

You see, Jesus is really God. He is God in the flesh. People say, how do you know in John 1 the word was

Jesus? Well, because if you just keep reading, once again, past the apologetical losers sitting in their mom's basement, in verse 14 it says this, and the word became flesh and dwelt among us.

And we beheld, we being the eyewitness John, the dude who's writing it out, we actually were there and we beheld his glory.

Where were you? You weren't there, dork. But we have an eyewitness account who sat there and said,

I saw Jesus Christ transfigured before my eyes. He is the firstborn among many brethren.

Now, it also says this, watch this, it says that they were arrogant to a point of not needing anything.

Thursday morning, I was feeling kind of queasy, and I called Miss Carrie and said, I don't think

I'm going to be able to make it into school today. And I called Pastor Josiah and said, can I have the day off please?

Because I really am the lesser pastor, and so I had to ask his permission. I said, can I take the day off? And he said yes.

And as I sat out on the porch in the blue sky, birds tweeting, the sun.

I'll be honest with you, I just started praying for people. I started thanking God. Because I was like,

I do not deserve this. I don't deserve this.

And yet I have it all. Sometimes, human beings in their arrogance and self -centeredness come to a place where they are okay living without God.

...mindset which says that we as evolved creatures hold all mystery and power within ourselves are lying to you both psychologically and they're self -deceiving.

You see, that's what this church had as a problem. They said, we are rich.

We are powerful. We don't need anything. And Jesus said to them, dude, you don't understand.

You are blind, naked, poor, and destitute. Christian, you want to find the peace of God again after your failure?

It starts with not only recognizing your problem, but it also comes to an understanding that without Jesus Christ, you are nothing.

Without humility, listen to me Christian, without humility, you will never find the peace of God.

You will never fill that space. I always hear people say, me and God are this far apart. That space will never be filled without humility.

When you recognize that you didn't find Jesus, but Jesus found you. When you recognize that it wasn't as I hear evangelists say, you decided to follow

Jesus. You didn't decide jack, dude. You came to a point where Jesus with His grace and love regenerated your heart.

You understand that you needed a Savior. You see, without God, you don't even know you need

God. That's how beautiful God's grace is. Listen to me.

Humility is absolute. Notice what Jesus says. He sits there and says, you have come to a place where you say

I'm rich and have prospered and need nothing. Not realizing that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked.

They looked at their possessions. They looked at their power. They looked at their wealth. I want you to hear what

James 4 says. Verse 4. Listen carefully. I'll read it to you. I wrote it on your little papers, but let me read it to you.

You adulterous people. Maybe I didn't, but whatever. You adulterous people.

Now, you Christians in here, let me use some colloquialisms for you Baptists, okay?

You backslidden Christians. Okay? You with me now? Jesus uses the word adulterous, but whatever.

You adulterous people. Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?

Well, pastor, what's that mean? Well, he knew you would ask that, so he keeps going. He says, therefore, whoever wishes to be a friend of the world is an enemy of God.

Do you know why so many folks are going to slip into the abyss of hell? It's not going to be because of guns and drugs, y 'all.

It's not going to be because of liberal Democrats. It's going to be because of this. It's going to be because they wanted to be more loved by the world than find the grace of God.

They wanted to be more accepted by a people group that are swirling around the drain of existence than to be set apart by the blood of Jesus Christ.

And you're going to use the excuse of I don't get religion. Do you know the word religion is nowhere in soteriology.

It does not exist. Do you know nowhere in Scripture does it say anything about church saving you or this person leading you to Christ?

That is all make -believe bull. There is nowhere in Scripture there is found a sinner's prayer.

It is only by the grace of Almighty God and the faith that He gave you that that transformative life can come upon you.

Oh well, I did that once. I was at youth camp and some little sissy hippie boy in flip -flops was playing

Just As I Am on his little guitar and the ocean was rolling. And all my friends were crying and I was crying because they raised us up in this emotional quagmire and I felt this some sort of feeling and so I prayed a prayer and I got saved.

Listen to me. Big, huge question. Listen to me very carefully. Please. Did anything change?

Well, it did for a couple of months. You're not a Christian. Listen. You are not a

Christian. Okay? Maybe no one's ever told you that before. Maybe you're one of those people who are now running through the list of responses like the

Terminator of how do I respond to this? Well, don't judge me and that might have been the first one.

Your harmonetics are horrible. Stop it. Humble yourself. You're not a believer.

Maybe you're a very moral, right -wing Republican. You're against child pornography.

Wow, that was a real struggle right there. That's a struggle for you. I want you and Artie to go out back and let him teach you a couple of things.

Maybe you're against abortion. Wow, murdering of children. Man, you have really reached the pinnacle of godliness there.

Has your life irrevocably changed? Do you know the peace of God that passes all understanding?

Have you ever come to a place where the little baby Jesus in the manger didn't save you but you surrendered to His Lordship?

If you haven't, please, forget church. It's stupid. Forget religion.

They're all dumb. The Word of God stands forever. Now, second point.

That's all the failures. That's all the bad stuff. Now, here's what

Jesus says irregardless, Pastor Josiah, irregardless of their response because there was no response because regardless of what they were thinking, saying, or doing, this is the truth of the

Word of God that stands forever. Read with me. Starting in verse 18. Watch this. This is so beautiful.

I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich in white garments, so that you may clothe yourselves from the shame and nakedness that may not be seen, and sabb to anoint your eyes that you may see.

Those whom I love are reproved and disciplined, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the doorknob.

If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him and he with me.

Just a few things I want you to understand that no matter how faithless you are, Jesus Christ is still faithful.

And to this day, I can tell you that your situation is fixable not because of my experience or my expertise or something else in religion or something else that preachers say, because Jesus Christ is still at work.

You are hearing right now the Word of the living God that can change your life.

It is not my preaching nor this church building that will change you, but your submission to the power of Almighty God.

Because Jesus Christ is still at work. He is still speaking to you right now.

It says in verse 18, I counsel you, let anyone who has an ear hear what the

God is saying to the churches. And he says this, I am still speaking.

Well, pastor, I can't hear him. You hearing has nothing to do with God is still speaking.

That's your arrogance and fear talking. It's your feelings talking. It's your religious emotions talking.

God is at work in your life. Pastor, how can you say that?

Because you're still breathing. The grace of God is extended to all men in commonality as of this.

You were created. You have breath. And God has a plan for you.

He is still speaking. Ergo, it is still fixable. Now understand, what he speaks is not the platitudes of human logic.

He still speaks this truth and that truth is, in case you needed to miss it, it says you are wretched.

You stink. I remember I was in eighth grade. I didn't have a daddy. I didn't know that when you took showers, you were supposed to use soap.

Didn't know. Didn't know. I would get in the shower when my mom actually made me get in, which was an exercise futility of her making me do anything.

But I would get in there and y 'all don't think I'm lying, but I would go to sleep standing up in the shower.

I would turn the hot water on and it would hit me right about here and I would sit there sleeping.

I got out, toweled off, and still stunk. I was in science class in the eighth grade and Amy was sitting beside me.

I won't tell your last name because she might be out there in TV land. But Amy was sitting beside me and I had just got finished at lunchtime.

Me and my buddies would eat lunch real quick and then we'd go out and play basketball. Now I hadn't taken a real shower in weeks, maybe months, and I played basketball every day.

I remember her sitting beside me and she looked over to me and goes, you stink.

I was so embarrassed because Amy was gorgeous, right? And she said

I stunk and I can remember going, I don't smell nothing. You know how you get used to your own funk?

I'm sorry, is that too unapropos, you know, for church? You stink, dude. You do.

Well, yeah, but I'm not like that. You have an exhaust fan in your bathroom for a reason because you stink.

You reek. But the world wants to tell you you're good just like you are.

Smile. Jesus loves you. Yes, He does. Enough to tell you that you reek when everybody else just wants to be in your camp.

You are a sinful, totally depraved human being without hope apart from Jesus Christ.

He is still speaking, but unfortunately for you little millennial or Z, whatever you call, that you can't be told what you do because it triggers a micro whatever all your little bull crap is.

You reek. You are a sinful, pathetic human being without hope in this world or the next without the blood of Jesus Christ.

Notice this, verse 19. Now He just said, I'm going to spew you out of my mouth.

The better word there is vomit. I'm going to vomit you out of my mouth.

But look at verse 19. And all you that want to say I've lost my salvation, listen real closely, verse 19.

Those whom I love, I still speak. I still tell you the truth. And I love you.

I reprove and discipline. Here's a little side note for you parents.

Golly, remember in that time. Listen to me. Here's a little side note for some of you parents. Especially some of you single moms that parent from a sense of guilt with your children.

Well, I can't stand what they've gone through so I don't want to enforce any kind of standards because they're going to grow up and hate me and I want them to love me more than I love my ex.

You are destroying those children. Let me tell you what true love is. Discipline.

Discipline. Now notice it doesn't say this. Listen, verse 19. Those whom

I love, I reprove and punish. You see, that's what the world doesn't understand.

I don't punish my children. I discipline children. Punishment is a tool of discipline which is a tool of love.

You understand? That's how it works, see? That's how it works. That's how you have kids that don't grow up to be meth addicts.

You understand? And you know where I learned that? Not from my father and mother. Sheesh. I remember sitting there with a bong going, what's up mom?

Not from my parents. I surely didn't learn it from the world. You know where I learned it from?

I was dumb enough to actually believe this stuff would work. And it does. Because it wasn't written by a guy named

Bob. It was written by the guy who created my children. That's the owner's manual, dude.

Another validation of the Word of God is more than a moral analogous kind of guidepost. Listen to me.

Jesus Christ is still at work in life. He's still speaking. He's still speaking truth.

And He still loves you. Pastor, how do you know that? Because He's still speaking to you.

I remember Marty and I went hunting one time. And I went and got in this truck.

We drove all the way up two hours to Carroll County. We got out of the truck. It was just 3 o 'clock in the morning.

Got out of the truck. He went to his deer stand. I went to my blind because I'm too fat to climb up a deer stand.

Got in my blind. Didn't really see anything. We came back to the truck. Marty said, hey, you want to go to Dairy Queen?

I said, yeah. You want to put on the Tennessee game? Yeah. Drove home listening to the

Tennessee game. Yelling about Phillip Fulmer. That was the entire day. You know, the two hour drive up there, we didn't hardly speak and not one time did he ask me, are you mad at me?

If I didn't speak to my wife for two hours sitting in the truck, what's wrong?

Oh my gosh. Are you mad? What's going on? We're not connecting. Oh my God. We need counseling.

Baby, I'm just looking out the window. Chillax. You know why

God still loves you, dork? Because He's still speaking to you. Well, I don't hear Him. Well, then listen.

Because His Word of God, He who has an ear, let Him hear. It's not that He's not speaking.

It's that you're not listening. Notice this.

You can still fix that by also knowing what it is to be zealous.

I had a guy one time in my church that said, Pastor, you're just too much.

Dial it down some. He used to sit right over there. His name was Scott. I won't tell you his last name.

But he'd sit over there and he actually told me this, Pastor, if you would dress differently, we could get a different class of people in here and we could get more money.

Have you don't obviously know me or have listened to my preaching for the last 12 years?

I don't even know how to answer that much stupid. I really don't. I don't care, man.

I have no idea what I make. I haven't seen one of my paychecks in 15 years. I don't know. I don't care.

I'm here because I want to be here. I actually love you morons and you morons love this moron.

And I love being here. When I'm on vacation, I'm calling up the staff. How are my people?

How are my flock? Are they doing okay? I mean, are they being dumb? Who's, I wanna know.

You know why I actually love being, I love being your pastor. It's like just, it's like everything that I've done in life and everything that's happened to me, it was like, ah, fit.

Oh, this feels good. You know like when you pull a big, you know, toe jam out and it actually feels good?

It's too much? Okay. You know what that's called?

It's called being zealous. Jeremiah said this, the preaching of the word of God is like a burning in my bones.

Zealousness. They called Jesus a zealot. He didn't say, no, I'm not.

He said, yeah, and? How zealous are you for Jesus Christ? You say, well, not much.

Ah, that might be part of the problem. You see, when you're discouraged, depressed, when you have anxiety, it's usually because you're not submitted to something bigger than yourself.

You don't have the accountability. You realize that you're all alone and so you get all anxious and you try to control everything and everybody else because if you are in control enough, then it will all settle down, but it gets worse, doesn't it?

Gets worse, don't it? You know why? Because what you believe is a lie from this world and God said, look into me and be ye saved.

For I am God, get ready for it, and there is no other. Understand this.

When you start letting that zeal capture you and you pour your life into somebody else, you ain't got time to be worried about all this garbage.

When you're serving God by serving his people, you're eating up and that zeal and the power of God, it will come into your life because every time you think the toothpaste tube is empty,

God fills you back up. Well, Pastor Aydin Finn filled in a long time because you ain't empty.

You've got too much of you in the tube and not enough of service to something greater than yourself. You're still fixable.

Look at this. And here's how. You can still repent. I'm almost done, y 'all.

I'm almost done. Listen, I wish this was just a sermon. It would be a lot easier. We could all sing Kumbaya on a leaf.

But this is the Word of Life. Not my words. I'm an idiot. I mean,

I walk and chew bubblegum. It's a good day. Okay? I ain't nothing. I swear to you.

The same spirit of God is in me. The same spirit of God in everybody in this room that's a Christian. This is the

Word of God. Now listen to me. Here's the key word. I love you.

Be zealous and... Is someone still confused about repentance?

I've done this three weeks in a row. No, what are those questions you don't need to answer?

Yeah, it was one of them. Told you I was stupid. It's rhetorical, y 'all. There are some people that still don't understand repentance.

Oh, you might get it up here, but you don't get it in here. Here's what some people think repentance is.

Here's the bar. Well, I'm an alcoholic. I don't pick up that beer. I've repented. No, no, dummy.

You've gone halfway. You've gone halfway. Because if you don't put something in that vacuum, listen to me.

Some of you 18 - to 19 -year -olds need to pop an Adderall and listen because you're screwing your life up and everybody else around you.

So be still and listen. You sit there and think,

I don't do X, therefore I've repented. No, dummy. You haven't.

You see, it's not just not doing something. It's by default filling that vacuum in your life with Jesus Christ.

In obedience to Him, your life can be full. You can know what it is to sleep on the softest pillow of being centered in God's will.

You can know the peace of God, that anxiety, no matter what is happening, you are okay because you know

God is able to keep everything that you have committed, including your life, to Him against that day.

You see, repentance is not just turning away from sin. It's a changing of the mind that comes from a changing of the spirit which will then change the direction of your body.

And it's not your sin that becomes the first and foremost thing. You'll still mess up, but you will understand the power of following God and that sanctified life, that life where you're going like this instead of like this, will give you a peace that you do not understand.

You are still fixable. A couple more and I'm done. I'll tell you what, I'll skip that one and we'll just do this one.

This is so beautiful. Verse 20, Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

Now, in the Greek present tense, this actually should say, I am standing at the door and knocking.

Have you ever been to Jeremiah with a football game? Have you ever been to a football game with Jeremiah? Oh my

God, it's the most annoying thing in the world. My gosh. He gets lit.

When he coaches football, I go just to watch him coach. It's entertainment. It's worth the five bucks.

I don't even really care what's going on in the game. I kind of sometimes hope they lose because I love to watch them.

He goes, He goes Pentecostal and starts speaking in tongues, but the players know what he's saying.

Right? But he also does this when he's excited. We used to hate it.

All of us guys would be in there watching football and he'd start going, and I can't do it. Do it.

Do it. Come on, do it. You know, he's embarrassed. He could clap and the sound of his clap would pierce your soul.

Okay? It would make you want to get up and beat his brains out. And it was just relentless all the time.

He was just like over the top all the time. Just like his mother. Ah, so annoying.

Some of y 'all in here, some of the anxiety, listen, some of the anxiety you're feeling is not from your problems.

It's from Jesus going, Come home. Open the door.

And you say, oh, I wish it would stop. Trust me on this one. No, you don't. Because there is no miserable person in the world as miserable as a backslidden

Christian. You've got too much of the world to be happy and not enough Jesus to know peace.

Listen to me today. I am standing at the door and knocking. Now, I love this part.

Listen, anyone who hears my voice this knocking, you're not doing this.

You shouldn't be doing this. You shouldn't be. That's not what you're hearing. Listen to what it says. I am standing at the door and knocking, but anyone who hears my voice.

Do you know how God's voice is described in Scripture? It was not in the storm, but it was in a still small voice.

It was not in the wind, but it was a still small voice. Be quiet just for a second.

And listen. It's God calling you right now to salvation.

And only you can know this. There ain't no music playing. There's no harmonica or organ going, please come and make us a big church.

I don't care. If I never see you again, literally, I don't care. Okay? I know that's not what a preacher is supposed to say, but I don't care.

I really don't. Because somebody else will just be here next week. Okay? Listen to me. Is that still small voice talking to you right now?

If anyone hears my voice, I will come in, and notice what it says, sup with him.

You have to understand, back in those days, eating at someone's house was an exercise in intimacy.

Intimacy. Jesus said, if you hear my voice, and you open the door.

Jesus ain't kicking it down. If you open the door in humility and repentance.

In other words, you quit watching the world on TV, you quit doing everything else you're doing, you get off your butt and go open the door, it says,

I will come in and eat with him. And then it says this, and he with me.

And I'll close with this. Music dudes, do whatever you got to do. Listen. Do it quietly though. Listen to me.

And he with me. At the end of the day, you know why it's so fixable? Because just like Adam in the garden alone.

The Bible says, Adam walked in the cool of the garden with God. Just he and God.

Jesus is sitting talking to the church at Laodicea 2 ,000 years ago. But he ends by saying this,

I will come in, and it will just be me and you. Your failure may seem horrible.

But the intimacy of Christ, is just between you and him.

Not your religion, not your belief, not your grandmother, not my preaching, not this stupid building.

It's just between you and him. Have you ever known that intimacy? Forget sermons.

Listen to me. Have you ever known that intimacy? Have you ever known what it feels like, truly, to be a child of God?

If you have any questions about that, I'm going to ask you to get rid of your arrogance, and get rid of your fear.

And come up and talk to a pastor up here. Not that they can do anything for you, but they can show you in God's Word, where you can find the answer you're looking for.

If you are broken and hurting today, and you feel like you have outstretched the grace of God, I'm here to tell you, no matter what your failure is, you are still fixable.

You are still redeemable. Oh pastor, you don't know what I've done. No dummy.

You don't know what Jesus has done. You can know the wholeness and the peace of knowing what it is, to be in the lap of Christ.

If you need to join a church, because you actually need someone to be all up in your world, because if you're one of those private

Christians, you're a backslidden Christian. Confess your faults one to another, that you may be healed.

Without fellow Christians, you will never live the full life that God wants you to live in.

Pastor, how can you say that? You just said it was between me and Jesus. It is intimately, but He uses tools.

It's called the church. I'm a senior licensed, ordained, certified pastor.

I don't mean jack without my brothers and sisters in Christ going, how stupid have you been lately?

Okay? If you are in good stead, I'm going to ask you to do something different, especially you visitors here.

This is that invitation time, and it's usually the time everybody's looking at their watch going, man, when's he going to shut up so I can go home?

Right? You are free to leave anytime you want. Let the good Lord guide you out the door.

But listen to me. If you are a believer in here, do something besides sit here, look at your watch, and mumble the words of a song.

Get up and go be the church by finding someone in this room who needs some ministry, and actually start to minister.

Today. Right now. While I feel awkward, I feel this. No one asked you about your feelings,

I'm asking about your faith. Are you going to submit to the call of God? I'm going to ask you to stand, and as God has spoken to you today, he who has an ear, let him hear what the

Lord says to the churches. If God has spoken to you today, you come as God leads.